Linoleum and similar hard surfaced floor covering



- May 110, 1932. A. M. gsonas LINOLEUM AND SIMILAR HARD SURFACEDILOOR COVERING Filed March 5,1928

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Patented May 1 0, 1932 ARTHUR H. GEORGE, OI LANCASTER,

LINOLEU This invention relates to flexible, hard sur-o faced floor covering, more particularly lino- I setting the calender rolls to travel at differmay also be obtained by in the calender.

ent speeds so that a wiping action is had between the'npper roll and the wearing surface, whereby the top surface is ironed out smooth and closely grained. The smooth surface an extrusion effect This extrusion efi'ect causes a relative slip between the mix and the top roll whereby the wearing surface is smoothedout. I 7,

It is well recognized that moisture has a deleterious effect upon theoxidized linseed oil binder ordinarily used in the manufacture of linoleum. It is also well established that alkalies and alkaline materials have an undesirable CllQllllCtlll'QitCtlOll wit-h the cement.

Dirt which has penetrated the surface of 11- nolcum is very diflicult to remoye and cannot without injuring the surface of'the goods.- The hard smooth surface produced by calendering serves to obviate a good many of the defects which would attend the usage of a porous fl'oor covering, such as the penetration eals, staining of the goods by liquids, and penetration of .dirt.

There are certain types of linoleum, however, in which the surface is discontinuous or of a porous nature. Inlaid linoleum forms a class of goods'of this character, straight line inlaid linoleum forming one type, and molded inlaid linoleum forming a different type. The straight line inlaid linoleum is formed of a number of separate pieces of linoleum which are preformed tosize and pressed upon a backing, the name .straight line being'deline of juncture between Moulded inlaid linoleum is rived from he-clean adjacent pieces. fennel-of agranularlmix applied upon a mimsrnvanm, assmuon COMPANY, orraucss'mn, PENNSYLVANIA, a conrona'rlon of making the same backing.

of undesirable chemiis more likely 'ro-Amasmone coax or PENNSYLVANIA ill AND HARD BURI'AOED FLOOR COVERING Application filed March 5, 192 8. Serial No. 259,100, 1

backing where it is-compressed to form a continuous web; in the moulded inlaid process, the granular mix is generally applied through stencils in order to effect a desired design and to obtain the proper depth of mix upon the Straight line linoleum may be calendered and a smooth closely knit surface obtained upon the preformed pieces comprising the pattern. The lines of juncture between the pieces, however, are closed by a' lateral pressure which is induced by the vertical pressure of the calender or other pressure oper-- ating upon the surface of the goods to force the component pieces against the backing. 'It will be apparent, therefore, that the full calendering pressure is not obtained upon the lines of juncture in such a direction as to force the adjacent pieces together, sothe joints in inlaid linoleum are not generally as strong as the intermediate parts of the cloth. The joints are likelv to open if the finished linoleum'is bent. This condition is particularly likely to obtain if the straight line inlaid Iinoleum is finished upon a flat bed' press instead of a calender, for, the joints are less likely to be wellbonded by the pressure of the'press than they are by the kneading action of a calender roll.

Moulded inlaid linoleum is usually finished under a fiat press so the granular mix is compressed into a continuous web, while the design in different shades or colors is retained, since the flat .bed press will not smear adjacent colors to any great extent, nor will it distort geometrical designs made of pulverulent material as a calender roll might do. -Because of this difference in the manufactur- ;ing process, and the differences in the form of materialused to make the product, moulded inlaid material is somewhat more porous than'calendered linoleum. It does not'get the benefit of the vkneading, extruding action I of a calender roll, nor does it get a slipping, ironingeifect of such a roll on its wearing surface. Moreover, if the moulded inlaid material be embossed, a calendered surface cannot be had, for thesurface is irregular.

It will thus be seen that inlaid linoleum .to-rzbe subject to stainingand 0 linoleum.

' matically, adjustable infiltration of moisture and undesired chemical agents than is ordinary plain linoleum. The susceptibility of inlaid linoleum to these undesired effects 'may be due to the porous nature of moulded material or to crack lines formed at the line of juncture of the pieces romprising straight line inlaid linoleum.

I obviate the foregoing defects by the application of a coating of water and alkali resistant material which fills the surface pores of moulded linoleum and closes any cracks which may occur at the line of juncture in straight line inlaid goods. The coating-is preferably alkali resistant as applied to linoleum formed with an oxidized linseed oil binder," since alkaline materials tend to break down such a material and destroy the The coating should be suificiently fluid that it will penetrate the pores of the material and form an effective seal against any subsequent liquid infiltration. More-. over, the coating should be sufliciently hard that dirt will not be ground into the surface the goods in ordinary usage.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating-a preferred method and apparatus for carrying out my invention;

Figure 1 shows a side elevation partly broken away ofa machine for applying a coating according to my invention; the figure being more or less diagrammatic; and

Figure 2 is a top plan view of a portion of Figure 1, the exhaust hood being removed.

Referring to the there is shown a strip 2 of linoleum which passes from a roll 3 across guide rollers 4 and 5 to a travelling conveyor 6. Between the guide rollers 5 and the conveyor 6 there is interposed a pair of rolls 7 and 8 which are connected together, as indicated diagramby chain line 9. The top roll 7 is vertically with respect to the lower roll 8 by means of a suitable screw adj ustment 10, whereby various gauges of material may be accommodated and various de grees of coating may be applied to the linoleum by thetop roll 7 The top roll 7 is preferably formed with an outer covering 11 of rubber or similar material of a resilient nature so that when linoleum is introduced between the rolls 7 and 8, the resiliency of the roll 7 will compensate for any unevenness in the surface of the linoleum. It will be understood that the face or the wearing surface of the linoleum is on top as viewed in the figures illustrating the invention.

At each end the edges of the linoleum 2, I place guards 12 which conform to the curvature of the roll 7 and ride on top of the linoleum 2. The coating material is placed on the linoleum 2 immediately in front of the re ilient roll 7 and between the guards 12 and lies there as a pool from which a small amount is which causes the roll illustrated embodiment,

of the top roll 7. but insidefrom the rolls without buckling. That is to say, I

prefer that the conveyor .6 travel slightly faster than the speed of the goods discharged from the coating roll 7.

I find that the linoleum passing between the coating roll 7 and the backing roll 8 travels at a speed more nearly'that of the backing roll .8 than these rolls are traveling at a different speed. It seems that the coating acts as a lubricant 7 to slip, thereby giv ing a thinner coating to the face of the linoleum. I prefer to drive the coating roll at a speed slightly less than the speed of the backing roll 8 so that a wiping action will be'obtained between the coating roll 7 and the face of the goods. This serves to remove any excess of coating material and gives a well coated piece of goods without too much coating material appearing on the face of the goods to materially alter the natural finish of the face.

- The backing roll 8 is preferably made of some rigid material such as steel in order that irregularities in the thickness of the cloth maybe compensated for'by the resilience of the coating roll 7 This insures that an irregularity in thickness of material will not cause noticeable irregularity in the thickness of the coating.

In order to harden the coating as quickly as possible, in order to facilitate handling of the coated linoleum, I provide a hood 14 which extends substantially the length of the conveyor 6. This plurality of ducts 15 which serve to draw air from the surface of the coated linoleum; an exhaust fan 16 being used to withdraw the air. Intermediate the ducts, I provide inlet passages 17 for air which will be swept across the face of the coated linoleum. Within these inlet passages. I place suitable heating coils 18, such as steam coils, in order to facilitate evaporation of. the solvent in the coating.

In coating diflerent types of linoleum. I prefer to use different types of coating rollers 7, correcting the hardness of the resilient coating 11 of the roll 7 to the type of lino leum to be coated. The hardness of the roll 7 will of course be dependent upon the fluidity of the coating material and upon the irregularity or smoothness of the face to be coated. In coating an embossed piece of linoleum having depressions in the surface, I use a relatively soft coating, roll. In coatthe coating roll 7, if

hood is provided with a I face-and then apply a coating having the deing a relatively smooth piece of plain linoleum, however, I prefer a harder roll.

' In manufacturing myimprovcd linoleum, I prefer to form the inlaid goods in the usual way, maturing them to .obtain a hard sursired characteristics.

I prefer to use a quick drying lacquer which will penetrate the pores in the moulded material and fill up any .cracks instraight line goods. By using a quick dryinglacquer, the filling operation may be quickly and conveniently carried out, the interstices being filled and the coating dried as a continuous operation while the floor covering is moving along a traveling carrying belt.

A lacquer which I have found to give satisfactory results can be made accordmg to the following formula using one-half second cotton:

' Parts Nitrated cotton 10 Ester gum 1O Tricresyl phosphate 1 Castor 0il 4: Ethyl acetate 25 Absolute alcohol finished linoleum, for example, 10 parts of absolute alcohol mightbe substituted with 10.

parts butanol.

A quick drying adhesive coating which penetrates the cracks in the straight line goods is advantageous in that the lines of juncture between the pieces comprising the material will be effectively closed prior to the rolling of the goods for shi laid linoleum is lia le to open at the seams at the oints between the surface portions if open so readily the goods be bent, the flexibility of the material being sufiicient to prevent cracking intermediate the joints. In my improved straight line inlaid linoleum, the joints do not and a substantially continuous surface is obtained irrespective, of the bending or other manipulation of the cloth.

A film of the coating may be left on the surface of the floor covering if desired, I

. coating so that t prefer, however to apply a relatively thin he surface texture is not materially altered; the dull natural surface of linoleum is more ornamental than the glossy bright,-shiny surface of particularly in the case such as described 'in Patent #1,630,085, of May 24, 1927. The coating varnish or lacquer, should be quite fluid so that it will pene: trate the interstices of the linoleum, binding the component portions ofithe goods together at the surface, thereby preventing the infilvarnishes or lacquer,

tration of undesired materials. The fluidity,

mcnt. Straight line inof embossed inlaids of the coating also determines to some extent the goods. The film remaining on the surface of the goods should be relatively thin so that it will not materially alter the coloring o the pattern, or change the surface texture of thegoods.

It is desirable that the coating be transparent in thin layers so that any of the coating which ma overlie the linoleum will not change the co or of the pattern to any great extent. Shadings of colors may be obtained if desired by tinting or dyeing the coating; but the coating is primarily a-sealing agent.

Although coatingsother than lacquer may be used to fill the pores of the linoleum, I prefer nitrocellulose lacquer because of its quick drying properties; its ready ayailability; and its susceptibility to the use of solvents such as appearing in formula above which havea solution effect on the linoleum binder. This solution eflect enhances the effect of the coating inasmuch as it augments the degree of penetration which would be obtained. by mere mechanical methods of application. The total wear of the coating and the linoleum is increased by mutual contribution of each to the other since the coating penetrates below the surface and there is a more or less interlaced structure. Moreover, the unsightliness of lanes of traiiic is reduced and the repair of such areas is made easier and more satisfactory because the more penetrating material is absorbed to an imperceptible degree from the surface inward, hence it is never completely worn off in com spicuous spots as would be the case with a purely superficial coating. These advantages are attributable to some measure to the solvent action on the linoleum cement of those solvents used for nitrocellulose lacquer as distinguished from turpentine and petroleunrdistillates used in varnishes; the latter have considerable less solvent actionand are not quite so desirable from a penetrationv ethyl ether and glycol ethers) and similar lvents are much morepenetrating and give results'on linoleum not obtainable with the varnish 'solvents, and a degree of penetration far in excess of that obtained with the same materials on less"v porous surface such as. paintsand enamels.

After the solvent matter remainin may be any of the esters or ethers of cellu ose, oils, oleo-resins orsyrrthetic resins. The us'eof plasticizers will of course, depend upon the nature of the solid v has evaporated, the solid.

matter selected. It will be apparent that the degree of penetration depends upon the proper choice of solvents rather-than upon the exact nature of the dissolved body matter.

The sealingcoat should be flexible so that itwill not break away from the floor coverwhich is flexible, I completely seal the seams and pores of the floor covering against moisture, destructive chemical agents and dirt which might penetrate the wearing surface.

Moreover, the linoleum is less liable to staining or discoloration. The surface is easier to keep clean since those particles of dirt which lie upon it cannot penetrate into the pores or other openings in the goods.

Thesealing coating is beneficial as applied to all types of linoleum floor covering preserving the interior from moisture and chemical attack. Inlaid linoleum including an oxidized linseed oil binder is perhaps the best example of the utility of my invention,

for'such a covering is subject to frequent washings and to various soaps which are harmful to the binder.

I am aware that it has been customary to wax linoleum, but my improved coating is to be distinguished from wax or va-rnish'as 46 may have been hitherto used, in that waxes and varnishes having a turpentine solvent have little or no penetrating power since they have a relatively low wetting power or relatively high surface tension, and the solvent action on the linoleum ingredients is practically negligible.

The thin layer of the coating which may overlie the treated surface may be ground 011' or left to wear off. Ifthe overlying surface is left to wear ofl, the worn places may be'made to match the unworn places by waxapplication of additional coat-v ing or by the ing material. complete layer 'ofthe coat ing will of course protect the entire surface and those portions intermediate the, pores,

from moisture. alkali and stains and is desirable from that standpoint.

While I have illustrated and described the present preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that the invention is not limited thereto, but may be otherwise practiced and embodied within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. The method of making a stain and moisture resistant linoleum, comprisingcompressthe web with a turing the web so formed, forcing a dissolved sealing material against the surface of the web, the solvent of the sealing material having a dissolving action on the linoleum binder, removing the excess sealing material from the web, and evaporating the solvent wherethe moulded inlaid linoleum is formed with its surface pores sealed with plugs which are bonded with the linoleum.

3. In the method of making a flexible hard surfaced floor covering, the steps consisting in forming a body ofa filler anda binder by compression, and applying a coating containing a solvent having a dlssolving action on the binder.

4. In the method of making a flexible hard surfaced floor covering, the steps consisting in forming a body sheet from a filler and a linseed oil binder, maturing the body sheet to harden the linseed oil binder, and applying a nitrocellulose lacquer coatingin-a solvent having a solvent action on the matured binder.

5. As a new article of manufacture, a hard pressed web comprising a hardened linseed oil binder and fillers, said web having surface pores therein, and an alkali resistant coating substantially sealing all of said pores, said coating being bonded to the web by a mixture of the coating and the binder.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand. Y

ARTHUR M. GEQRGE. 

